Talk to Edinburgh University - Celtic and Scottish Studies

Engravings

Before photography, there was painting, sketching, etching and engraving. Engravings were used in newspapers such as the 'Illustrated London News' and in books; first wood engravings, then metal engravings.
Here is an engraving from the book, 'Modern Athens', published in 1829 - ten years before the discovery of photography was announced.
This was published black and white, but the book has been 'broken up' the individual engravings removed and hand tinted.

1829

Edinburgh Old Town and North Bridge - from Princes Street

© Copyright: For permission to reproduce, please contact peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk

© Reproduced with acknowledgement to Ian Smith
Here are two rather romantic views of Edinburgh from the same book.
- In the view of Stockbridge, the figures and horse crossing the bridge have been carefully positioned.
A bridge over the Water of Leith at Stockbridge
© Reproduced with acknowledgement to Ian Smith
In the view of Edinburgh Castle, interest has been added by including two soldiers and two Newhaven fishwives in the foreground.
Edinburgh Castle - view from below Ramsay Garden, the Mound

© Copyright: For permission to reproduce, please contact peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk
1890

Even fifty years after the discovery of photography was announced, engravings were being used in books such as 'Old and New Edinburgh', published in 1890.

© Reproduced by courtesy of Jenny Parkerson
- - An artistic sky has been added to the view of Newhaven Harbour below.
Newhaven from the Pier

© For permission to reproduce, please contact peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk
- There is a lot of action throughout the view of Granton Harbour below. All the components have been included and positioned in a way that might not have been so easily achieved with photography.
Granton Harbour

© For permission to reproduce, please contact peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk

© For permission to reproduce, please contact peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk

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Until fairly recently, photography was regarded as having begun about 1839. However, there were experiments by a few individuals in earlier years.

The main problem was not in creating the image through the use of chemicals, but in finding a way to 'fix' the image, i.e. to prevent it from fading quickly on exposure to light.

Here are two individuals who experimented with photography long before 1839:

Wedgwood

Thomas Wedgwood (1778-1829) was born into a family of pottery manufacturers from Staffordshire, England.

In the early 1790s, he attempted to print photographs on materials including ceramic, glass, paper and white leather, believing that if he could produce photos, these could be useful in his education of young people.

Chemist, Humphry Davy wrote up Wedgwood's experiments in a Paper for The Royal Institution in London in 1802.

David Brewster published an account of this Paper in The Edinburgh Magazine in December 1802.

Professor Larry J Schaaf believes that Davy may in fact have been successful in finding a way to 'fix' some of his images. If so, this would give him a far more prominent position in the history of photography.

Niépce

Joseph Nicéphore Niépce (1765-1833) was son of a wealthy lawyer.

He served in the French army under Napoleon, then became Administrator of the district of Nice.

From 1795, he devoted his life to scientific research.

With his brother, Claude, he invented and patented then developed what was probably the world's first internal combustion engine.

He experimented with photography in the mid-1820s.

The earliest of his photos to survive is view of rooftops from his window. It was an 8-hour exposure taken in 1826. This was on pewter, coated with bitumen disolved in lavender oil.

Niépce continued to experiment, and corroborated with Daguerre from 1829 until Niépce died in 1833. Daguerre went on to invent the Daguerreotype, a process that he sold to the French Government in 1839.

The French Government paid a pension of 6,000 Franks pa to Daguerre, and also made a payment of 4,000 Franks pa to Niépce's estate in recognition of the part that Niépce had played in this invention.

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Photography

Talbot and Daguerre

1839

Talbot

William Henry Fox Talbot:
was born in 1800 in Dorset.
was a member of Astronomical Society and Royal Society in London.
became a Member of Parliament.
studied classics and mathematics at Cambridge.
was a biblical scholar, botanist and helped to decipher cuneiform script.
knew Herschel and Brewster.
developed an interest in photography while sketching with camera lucida.
started experimenting with photography in 1834.
'Hair down, Collar up'

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'Hair up, Collar down'

   ©

Both photographs above were taken by Ivan Szabo. They are reproduced
from the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television collection,
by courtesy of the Science and Society Picture Library.   Click here for link to web site.

Daguerre
Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre:
was born in 1787 in France
was a painter who designed diorama scenes for the theatre
partnered Nicéphore Niépce, and experimented with photography
continued experimenting with photography after Niépce's death in 1833.

Photography Announced